Off Track Thoroughbreds

My Fantastic Lady wins the 2014 Totally Thoroughbred Show at Pimlico. Photo by Lydia Williams

(Press Release)—My Fantastic Lady was crowned the overall champion at the third annual Totally Thoroughbred Horse Show, presented in four show rings on the infield at Pimlico Race Course July 13.

Owned by Sabrina Moore and ridden by Courtney Sommers, My Fantastic Lady accumulated the most number of points after winning three classes, Novice Hunter, Novice Hunter Walk/Trot Canter and Novice Hunter Classic.

“She was a morning glory as a race horse,” said Moore of the six year old. “She did everything perfect in the morning. We tried her short and long and we tried her on the grass. She had four starts but she just wasn’t competitive. My mom loves her, though, and we were determined to keep her.”

Behind My Fantastic Lady in the overall standings came Testamonially, who has finished second in the Pimlico show three years in a row.

Overall, there were 343 entries in a total of 16 classes.

Competitors arrive at Pimlico for the 3rd annual Totally Thoroughbred Show. Photo by Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club

“Things went as smoothly as possible with all of the horses and the hot weather,” said show manager Georganne Hale. “Things were going very well until the ground became a little slippery toward the end and we had a lot of late scratches. We were honored to have two female Hunt Cup winners here this afternoon, Liz McKnight rode in the show and Joy Slater was a spectator.”

The event is the brainchild of Hale, the Maryland Jockey Club’s racing secretary, and Adena Springs Retirement Program manager Stacie Clark-Rogers. Part of the Thoroughbred Alliance Show Series (T.A.S.S.), the Totally Thoroughbred Horse Show is one of a handful of shows for Thoroughbreds where each horse shows under its Jockey Club name. Traditional show horses have their names altered often when they change owners or circuits.

Erica Gaertner and Voler Bar Nuit won the Gambler’s Choice Award July 13.

Nearly $15,000 in prize money was awarded to the owners of the first three finishers in each class (60%-winner; 30%-second place; 10%-third) and six ribbons were awarded for each class. The Totally Thoroughbred Horse Show, which began at 8 a.m. Eastern, included 16 classes. The inaugural event featured nearly 800 entries. A year ago, almost 400 entries with 140 Thoroughbred horses participated.

All the 2014 proceeds will go to two local Thoroughbred aftercare programs: Foxie G Foundation (www.thefoxiegfoundation.org/) and Mid-Atlantic Horse Rescue (www.midatlantichorserescue.org/). Since 2012, Pimlico’s Totally Thoroughbred Horse Show has raised more than $23,000 to benefit Thoroughbred Aftercare organizations.

Here are the results:

The Lead Line Class demonstrates the patience of the Thoroughbreds and their young riders. Photo by Tracy Tate O’Dowd

• Class 1 In Hand (Fillies and Mares) Presented by Keller Williams Realty Group & Brittingham Racing (T.I.P) Class —Winner Gilded Spider
• Class 2 In Hand (Geldings) Presented by Maryland Horse Breeders (T.I.P) Class— Winner Division A Victory’s Palace, Winner Division B Houston
• Class 3 Leadline Presented by Marquetta Pisarcik (T.I.P) Class (10 and under) —Winner Division A Campside, Winner Division B Trey Bear

• Class 4 AARP Leadline Presented by Children’s Colonial Trunk Show (T.I.P) Class (60 & over)—Winner Purple Sand
• Class 5 Novice Hunter (2’) Presented by MTHA—Winner Division A Red Gulch, Winner Division B Blazingthunderlady
• Class 6 Novice Hunter (2’6”) Presented by MTHA—Winner Division A Whiskey Bottom Road, Winner Division B My Fantastic Lady

The Winner—Owner Sabrina Moore holds My Fantastic Lady, the winner of the 2014 Totally Thoroughbred Horse Show contested on the infield at Pimlico Race Course on Sunday. Courtney Somers, who rode the mare, stands next to show judge Rodney Jenkins. Photo by Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club

• Class 7 Novice Hunter Walk/Trot Presented by MTHA— Winner Division A Brightly Shining, Winner Division B Campside
• Class 8 Novice Hunter Walk/Trot/Canter Presented by MTHA—Winner Division A Victory’s Palace, Winner Division B My Fantastic Lady
• Class 9 Novice Hunter Classic (2’ and 2’6”) Presented by MTHA (T.I.P) Class—Winner My Fantastic Lady
• Class 10 Open Hunter (2’6”) Presented by Holly Robinson Racing—Winner Division A Testamonially, Winner Division B Tippy Too
• Class 11 Open Hunter (3’) Presented by Gulfstream Park Thoroughbred After-Care Program—Winner Testamonially
• Class 12 Open Hunter Walk/Trot/Canter Presented by Winners Circle Partners (Stewart Nickel)—Winner Division A Silver Bill, Winner Division B Testamonially
• Class 13 Open Hunter Class (2’6” & 3’) Presented by Dark Hollow Farm (T.I.P) Class—Winner Genius Gold

My Fantastic Lady. Photo by Lydia Williams

• Class 14 Jumper (2’7”) Presented by Gulfstream Park Thoroughbred After-Care Program—Winner Peaceful Dove
• Class 15 Jumper (3’7”) Presented by Take2 (NYTHA) (T.I.P.) Class—Winner Enfield Glen
• Class 16 Gambler’s Choice (3’7”) Presented by Hillwood Stable, LLC (T.I.P) Class—Winner Voler Bar Nuit

The Pimlico Perpetual Trophy Presented by Gulfstream Park Thoroughbred After-Care Program.
The 2014 winner is the horse with the highest number of points accumulated in the In Hand Classes (1 & 2), Novice Hunter Classes (5,6,7,8 & 9) and Open Hunter Classes (10,11,12 & 13).

Results were: My Fantastic Lady, first; Testamonially, second; Houston, third; Victory’s Palace, fourth.

The sponsors for the Totally Thoroughbred Horse Show include Chesapeake Coffee, Children’s Colonial Trunk Show, Claiborne Farm, Country Life Farm, Dana Point Farm, Dark Hollow Farm, Exacta Business Solutions LLC, Hillwood Stable LLC, Holly Robinson Racing, Marquetta Pisarcik, Maryland Horse Breeders Association, Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, Next Car, Offtrack Products, PTK LLC, Take2-NYTHA, Terese Brittingham, The Jockey Club.

OTTB Daddy Waggs, who is now named Accolade, is amazing at all three phases.

In late 2010, Skyeler Icke Voss was going about her business at Morningside Training Farm in Plains, Va., when lightning struck in the form of a pale horse with no tail.

News of the racehorse, said to possess movement so free and athleticism so exceptional, traveled rapidly to the top rider at Morningside by way of an urgent phone call.

“I got this call from Stuart Black. He has helped me find all of my horses, and he was literally standing on the backside at Remington Park in Oklahoma,” says Voss, a three-time North American Young Riders Championship who has competed at three-star events. “He said he’d found the most incredible horse and I needed to buy him that day.”

He was insistent. He urged her to allow him to put him on a trailer “right now” and ship the magnificent steed to her.

Although she declined, there was no denying fate.

Daddy Waggs
New name: Accolade
Sire: Mr. Walter T.
Dam: Tawdry Audrey
Foal date: June 1, 2005Voss’ husband Clayton Voss and his friend Jeremy Hager also spoke with Black, and quickly decided to pool their resources and purchase the animal for her, sight-unseen.

“My husband is not a horse person, but he has been super supportive. He and his friend own another of my OTTBs, and Stuart has found me several who have gone on to the upper levels of Eventing,” she explains.

On the day the much-anticipated ex-racehorse arrived Voss was too busy to pick him up so she sent two working students in her stead. They called in with less enthusiastic reports. “They said he had no tail, but that he’s gray.”

So the racehorse named Daddy Waggs didn’t sound great. But, her trust in Black’s ability to judge horseflesh soon proved true when she finally got the chance to visit him. Here was a horse who would have breathed fire if he could. Extremely athletic and hot, he danced and snorted as she gazed upon his incredible conformation.

“I got on him right away. He was very, very friendly and personable, but a little too athletic for his own good, and he had an incredible buck on him,” she says.

Skyeler Icke Voss aboard Accolade, an explosive OTTB she expects to take up the ranks.

Though they struggled their first year with bucking and his issues with inattentiveness, the T-bred she now calls Accolade caught on so quickly to the routine and rhythm of showing that she was able to compete him in his first Beginner/Novice Event within their first six months together.

“He bucks a lot, but his misbehavior comes from pure joy for life. He is never trying to be bad when he does it,” she says. And the good that he has is truly promising.

“In dressage, his movement is very free up front, and he has an incredible suspension for a horse off the tracks,” she says. “He actually does all three phases in a rubber snaffle, he’s very light.”

Describing him as the “most athletic horse I’ve ever had the pleasure of riding,” Voss say her horse can turn on an astounding performances in all three phases. “The dressage work and jumping are easy for him; he’s a very careful jumper, and he is explosive and unbeatable cross country,” she says.

And he loves to kiss!

Already a successful one-star Preliminary horse who is expected to move up to Intermediate this year, she hopes to go two-star on him in the near future.

“My first big-time horse was an OTTB mare named Savannah. She took me from Novice to Advanced and I always loved how sensitive she was, and her heart. I still have her today—she’s 30,” she says. “Now I’m most excited about Accolade. He’s got incredible dressage movement… at our last event at Fair Hill in May he was jumping so high in the dressage warm-up ring that I had to leave the ring. I stood by the dressage ring and waited our turn. But in the ring, he focused right in and we got scored a 25!”

As Voss looks forward to competing the beautiful gray, who has, incidentally, regrown a lovely tail, she feels she has a tiger by the tail in the world of Eventing.

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Author’s note: Off-TrackThoroughbreds.com launched e-commerce site Off-TrackProducts. We offer two saddle pad styles and a show cooler with a sporty T-BRED logo, which features an oval, symbolic of a Thoroughbred’s race career, and the horse running free. Please check it out if you wish. And thank you for enjoying the blog!